Massage-machine.



No. 784,643. PATENTED MAR. 14-, 19051 G. F. TROTTER.

MASSAGE MACHINE;

APPLIOATION FILED 16:13.5, 1904.

UNITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

GEORGE F. TROTTER, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO UNI- CORPORATION OF KENTUCKY.

MASSAGE-MACHIN E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,643, dated March 14, 1905.

Application filed March 5, 1904. Serial No. 196.679.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. TROTTER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Louisville, in the county of J efferson'and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Massage-Machine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to massage-machines, and has especial relation to that class of mas- IO sage-machines in which the vibratory movement is obtained through the oscillation of electromagnets.

Electric massage-machines heretofore have had the disadvantage of being subject to arc- 5 ing at the contact-points, or if not to arcing at least to being heated to such an extent that the contact points are burning out more slowly.

My invention has for its object to overcome this difliculty and to provide a massage-machine that can be operated by the ordinary current obtained from the usual incandescentelectric-light circuit.

My improved massage machine operates without requiring a transforming apparatus and may obviously be used for either direct or alternating currents.

In order that my improved massage-machine may be readily understood, I will de- 3 scribe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference-numerals are used to indicate similar parts, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the massagemachine with parts removed to indicate the position of the electromagnet-coils. Fig. 2 is a rear end view of the machine. Fig. 3 is a front end view of the machine with the rubber cup removed to show the connection of the springs. Fig. 1 is a detail sectional View 4 through the secondary electromagnet, showing one end of the coil connected to the post through which current passes when the secondary magnet is in the circuit. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing one form of the electric connections by which the machine may be operated, and Fig. 6 is a diagram showing another form of the electric connections by which the machine may be operated.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a hollow wooden handle, through which passes a tube 2, Which-has soldered to its upper end the base of a spring-plate 3. A helix spring 4 is held between the base of spring-plate 3 and the upper end of the hollow wooden handle 1. To prevent the handle 1 from slipping off, the tube 2 has screwed onto its lower end a nut or cap 5 of greater diameter than the bore of the hollow handle 1. The mounting thus formed for the vibratory mechanism of the machine is not rigid, but allows a slight oscillatory movement thereof.

The vibratory mechanism proper consists in two electromagnets held in suitable proximity to each other by the mechanism hereinafter described. The primary magnet 6 has a core 7, whose ends are beveled, as shown clearly in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The secondary magnet 8 is positioned directly over the primary magnet 6 and has the ends of its core 9 cut to correspondwith the ends of the core 7. The rear ends of the electromagnetcores 7 and 9 are secured together by a hingejoint 10. The forward ends of the cores 7 and 9 are held in proximity to each other by means of a spring 11, which tends to draw them together, and a spring 12, whose tendency is to keep them apart. The spring 11 has one of its ends secured to the core 7 by a screw 13, and its other end is secured to the core 9 by a screw 1A. The upper end of the spring 12 is rigidly secured to the core 9 by a stationary abutment 15. The lower end of this spring rests against an adjustable abutment 16 at the end of an adjustment-screw 17, which turns in a threaded bracket 18, secured to the core 7. It will readily be seen that by turning the adjusting-screw 17 the spring 12 can be put under a pressure just sufficient to keep the cores 7 and 9 apart against the tension of the spring 11, which tends to draw them together.

The Vibratory mechanism is secured to the handle of the machine by screws 19, which fasten the rear end of the core 7 to the upper portion of the metal spring-plate 3.

The usual rubber cup 20 is fitted into the forward end of the core 7 by means of a rod 21, which fits into a bore 22 in the said core.

The alternate make-and-break device comprises two contacts, which are mounted upon the electromagnets 6 and 8, respectively. One of these contacts is preferably in the form of a flexible terminal 23 and is secured to the washer 2 at the rear end of the magnet 6 by the screws 25 and 26. The other of these contacts I prefer to make in the form of a screw 27 passing through a post 28, said post 28 being secured to a sheath 29, which covers the secondary coil. The coil 6 has as terminals the screw 26 and the screw 30, to which the line-wires 31 and 32 are connected. The flexible terminal 23 is thus in electrical contact with the line-wire 31. When current enters from the line-wire (say) 32 into the coil 6 through the connection 30, it passes through the coil and out at the connection 26, giving an electromagnetic polarity to the core 7. The coil 8 has one of its ends connected to the terminal 30 by the wire 33, and the other end of this coil contacts with the post 28. It is obvious, therefore, that as the magnet 6 attracts the armature 9 the secondary circuit is completed by the post 27 contacting in its downward movement with the flexible terminal 23. The secondary magnet is then connected in parallel with the primary magnet, and their coils being wound in the same direction a polarization of similar signs will occur at the adjacent ends of their respective cores. The effect of this will be to cause a mutual repulsion. Upon this repulsion the contact 27 will leave the flexible terminal 28, and the secondary magnet will at once lose its polarity, whereupon a mutual attraction will again occur, and thus a constant oscillation is obtained which gives to the rubber cup 20 the necessary vibration.

1f desired, the machine may be connected as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings instead of as shown in Fig. 5. In this form the two ends of the secondary magnet-coil are connected with the terminals 23 and 27, respectively. The line-wires go direct to the two ends of the primary coil. The oscillation of the machine is due in this form to the short-circuiting of the secondary magnet 8, which is really an induction-coil for the primary magnet-coil. The current flowing through primary magnet 6 sets up aninduced current in the coil 8, which draws the two pole-pieces together, whereupon the coil- 8 is short-circuited and a mutual repulsion occurs. This operation is continued alternately, thus giving the desired oscillation. As previously stated, it is obvious that either form of connection may be employed for either direct or alternating currents, as desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein is as follows:

1. A massage-machine carrying a non-vibratory massage device and a means vibrating on the machine and inducing vibration therein.

2. A massage-machine carrying a massage device in non-vibratory relation thereto, and having mounted on the machine, an electromagnetic vibrator inducing vibration in the machine.

3. In a massage-machine, the combination with a handle and a vibratory mechanism; of a yielding connection between said handle and said vibratory mechanism.

4. In a massage-machine, the combination with a primary electromagnet, and a secondary electromagnet adjacent thereto; of a con tact on said secondary magnet, and a terminal on said primary'magnet, said contact and terminal being so connected to the wires supplying current to the machine, that by their contacting, the secondary magnet is connected in parallel with the primary electromagnet.

5. In a massage-machine, the combination with a primary electromagnet, and a secondary electromagnet; of line-wires connected to the terminals of said primary electromagnet, a wire connecting one end of the secondary magnet-coil with one of said line-wires, a contact electrically connected with the other end of said secondary magnet-coil, and a terminal mounted upon the primary magnet in the path of said contact and electrically connected with the other of said line-wires, whereby the two magnets are automatically connected in parallel when the primary magnet attracts the secondary magnet.

6. In amassage-machine, the combination with a primary electromagnet, and a secondary electromagnet; of a hinge connecting one end of said primary magnet with one end of said secondary magnet, and springs holding the other end of the secondary magnet in proximity to the other end of the primary magnet, and automatic means for short-circuiting the operating-current of the machine.

7. In a massage-machine, the combination with an electromagnet and its armature, of a handle, and means providing a yielding connection between said handle and magnet.

8. In a massage-machine, the combination with an electromagnet and its armature, of a handle and a spring connecting the handle with said magnet.

The foregoing specification signed this 15th day of February, 1904.

GEORGE F. TROTTER. 1n presence of- LAWRENCE F. LEOPOLD, E. COOPER. 

